Glossary of Rug Terms

Everything you ever needed to know about rugs - all in one handy little place.

Abrash: The tonal change of color in a rug - seen mostly in the horizontal weave of the rug. In older and antique rugs, abrash occurs naturally due to the variations of yarn diameter or switches in dye batch. In more modern machine-made and even hand-woven rugs, abrash is purposely created to mimic an antique look.

Acrylic: A man-made fiber similar to wool. It is less expensive than wool, although acrylic fibers are less durable and don't dye as easily.

Agra: A type of semi-worsted design used in Agra, among other Persian cities. An agra design is made with New Zealand wool using a Persian knot.

All-over design: A pattern that is consistent throughout the field of the rug; one without a central medallion or design.

Angora: A bold and dramatic design made from fine New Zealand mohair wool and finished with a Kalaty wash.

Antique wash/Antique finish: A chemical wash that softens the colors of the fabric and creates an antique look.

Anti-static: A treatment that diminishes static electricity and buildup on the rug.

Arabesque: An intricate pattern of intertwining flowers and vines.

Art Deco: A popular rug design from 1925 to 1940 featuring bold, geometric interior patterns.

Art silk: A silk-like yarn, made from cotton, rayon, or polyester, used for weaving. Art silk feels like real silk without the hefty price tag. Periodically, art silk rugs are sold as real silk, so it's important to know what you're buying. (See Burn test for help in determining rug fibers.)

Asymmetrical knot: An Oriental pile rug knot where only one of two warps are entirely encircled. (See also Persian knot.)

Aubusson (Tapestry) weave: A French-designed method of hand-weaving where the stitches look linear and the back of the rug may look stringy. Aubusson weaves evolved into many main styles, including the Antoinette, Josephine, and Maison patterns, and usually feature a floral medallion on pastel colors. Aubusson weave rugs originated as flat-weave rugs, but have been adapted for pile rugs in modern times.

Axminster loom: A type of loom used in machine-made rugs that offers great versatility (over 70 yarn colors at one time) in the size and colors of a rug.

Axminster rug: Machine-made rugs made on a special Axminster loom. This type of weaving was originated in Axminster, England, during the industrial revolution and is now popular worldwide due to its great flexibility in size and color.

Backing: The fabric on the backside of the rug.

Background color: The dominant color of the rug - the color that appears behind the rug pattern.

Bahar: A rug design made of blended New Zealand wool with silk highlights. The design is hand-tufted with rich, high-quality yarns, and double-washed for a bold, exciting look.

Bashir: This rug has an exclusive wash, creating a unique Indo-Peshawar look, and is made from hand-knotted New Zealand wool blended with mohair.

Bamboo rugs: Natural bamboo fibers woven into wide strips to create a rug or mat with a hardwood floor effect.

Banded braid: A rug with a predetermined pattern (consistent from rug to rug) made with wide bands of solid or variegated braid.

Bulk Continuous Filament (BCF): Synthetic yarns that are machine-fluffed before tufting or weaving.

Berber: A naturally colored look of carpeting or rugs, now commercially developed. The term "Berber" actually derives from a term used to describe North African tribes people who traditionally crafted rugs made of undyed handspun yarn from the wool of local sheep.

Bessarabian: A particular style of design hailing mainly from the Ukraine. Bessarabian designs are usually very formal and elegant, featuring arched floral patterns.

Bidjar: Originally a Kurdish design featuring hundreds of trees; modern commercially made Bidjar rugs feature a characteristic diamond-shaped medallion. Bidjar rugs have earned themselves the name of "The Iron Rug of Persia," as most are guaranteed to last over 300 years. Both hand- and machine-made Bidjar rugs are only made in limited quantities.

Binding: A strip of fabric sewn over the edge of a rug to strengthen and protect it.

Bleeding: The transfer of fabric dyes from a rug or carpet by a liquid, usually water, to other fibers.

Blend: Rug or carpet composed of more than one kind of fiber.

Border: The design that forms the outside rim of the rug, surrounding the field.

Border Rug: A rug with one or more border surrounding a solid field or middle.

Boucle: A heavily looped pile.

Boteh: A popular pattern in Oriental rugs, a boteh resembles a paisley pattern, and is thought to be shaped after a pinecone, leaf, or even the flame of Zoroaster.

Braided rug: A continuous braided yarn or fabric sewn into a spiral to create a reversible circle- or oval-shaped rug.

Brocade: Sometimes used in Kilim rugs, a brocade is a floating horizontal weave embellishment.

Bukhara: These rugs, native to their namesake Uzbekistani city (although some rugs defined as Bukharan are actually made in Pakistan), typically feature rows of repeating motifs or gulls.

Burn test: Testing a rug's material by burning a small tuft of its fiber. Silk and wool smell like burning hair, and cotton has a vegetable smell when burned.

Carding: The process of opening, cleaning, and aligning wool fibers, and forming them into a sliver, or continuous untwisted strand yarn. The denier of carded wool is larger and coarser than that of worsted wool.

Cartoon: A diagram, usually colored and drawn on graph paper, that allows the weaver to follow a specific rug pattern. Cartoons are especially useful for Village Rugs, or rugs woven by whole groups of people.

Cartouche: A design element that contains a date or inscription.

Carving: A process wherein handheld tools are used to create a 3-D effect on solid-colored rugs, or to accentuate details on hooked, knotted, or hand-tufted rugs.

Caucasian: A generic name to describe designs originating from the Caucasus Mountains in Russia. Caucasian designs are typically geometric and boldly colored.

Chain stitch: A type of crocheting stitch accomplished by making successive loops to lock the final weft in place at the end of the rug.

Chemical wash: Removes short yarns from the face of the rug, and reacts with the dye stuffs in the design to create an overall luster.

Chenille: Fabric that is woven, cut into strips, and then braided. Chenille fabric has a deep, luxurious pile.

Chrome dyes: Colorfast, synthetic dyes that use potassium bichromate to permanently bond the dye to the yarn.

Classical: Originally designed before the 19th century, classical carpets were ornate court carpets.

Cloudband: A rug pattern that resembles a swirling band of clouds. Cloudband designs, while popular in Persian rugs, were originally produced in China.

Color: An important attribute in a handmade rug. Colors are made using natural extracts or by mixing synthetic dyes.

Colorfast: The ability of a rug to be washed without the colors and dyes bleeding or running together in the water.

Combing: A process that prepares wool for spinning by pulling the carded yarn through spiked blocks or combs.

Contemporary: A non-traditional rug design featuring anything from bold geometric patterns to asymmetrical free-form patterns.

Continuous filament: An unbroken strand of synthetic fiber, such as olefin.

Controlled center braid: The center of each rug is a predetermined color and pattern, while the rest of the rug is variegated.

Corn rowing: When a rug's foundation shows between hooked stitches. Typically, a rug's design is woven in a crescent pattern rather than in horizontal rows to prevent corn rowing.

Cotton: A natural fiber formed in a cotton boll or seedpod. Cotton is highly durable and strong, and is often found in rug backing and fringe, while mercerized cotton is sometimes used for rug pile.

Cross-woven: Rugs woven on a Wilton loom from side to side (horizontally) rather than from top to bottom (vertically). This type of weave incorporates fringes into the weave rather than requiring them to be sewn on later, and also allows more colors to be used in the rug design than a typical Wilton weave.

Cut pile: After the yarn is woven through the canvas, the wool loops are cut and the ends are twisted to make tufts. This process leaves an open, even, and soft surface, sometimes referred to as a "velvet" pile.

Delustered: A fabric treatment that washes the shine from the yarn, leaving a softer, more subtle look on the rug.

Denier: A measurement of linear density. Thick yarns have a high denier, while a thin yarn will have a low denier.

Density: The amount of pile in a rug or carpet and the closeness of the tufts. The higher the pile and closer the tufts, the more luxurious the rug will feel and the better it will wear.

Dhurrie: A flat-woven rug made in India, usually of wool or cotton.

Dragon: A motif that symbolizes good fortune; popular in Chinese rugs.

Duracord: A man-made yarn developed primarily for outdoor rugs. Duracord has a lot of the properties of cotton (including softness), but is also very durable, quick-drying, and anti-microbial. Duracord is long-lasting, even when out in the elements for an extended period of time.

Embossed: Curved pile around a central motif that enhances the look of the pattern.

Embroidery: Needlework embellishments on a rug or carpet that enhance the look of the pattern.

Endless knot: A Buddhist emblem symbolizing long duration.

Faux Silk: Usually a synthetic, "false silk" is woven to have the look and feel of real silk fibers. Viscose, polyester, and rayon are all used as faux silk. (See Art silk.)

Fiber: Synthetic or natural materials used to weave a rug. Synthetic fibers offer bright colors, easy maintenance, overall value, and softness. Natural fibers provide durability and muted, low-shine colors.

Field: The central decor on a rug, containing the central medallion or other motif. The field of a rug is the rug's focal point and is surrounded by the border.

Flat braid: A rug with braids spiraling around two parallel cores.

Flat weave: A method of hand-weaving in which the weft strands are threaded through the warp strands. This enables a flat design in which no knots are used.

Flattening: Rugs with pile can flatten with wear and traffic. Cleaning and vacuuming can restore the height of the pile.

Flokati: Shaggy, luxurious rugs originating in Greece, which are hand-woven from sheep's wool. The higher the weight (measured in grams), the thicker and fluffier the rug will be.

Foundation: The body of the rug, made up from the combination of warps and wefts.

Frames: The part of a loom that holds the spools of yarn. Each frame can hold a different color of yarn, making an eight-frame loom able to weave an eight-color rug.

Frieze: Heavily twisted yarn that makes a coarse texture of cut pile.

Fringe: Warp threads extending beyond the edge of the rug. The fringe is typically treated in multiple ways to prevent unraveling.

Gabbeh: Used by the nomads as a mattress, a Gabbeh rug is fluffy and long-piled. Fairly new to the market, Gabbeh rugs have only been sold commercially since 1990, and usually feature simple, colorful patterns.

Guard stripes: Stripes of border in bright colors that separate the edges from the central pattern or field.

Gul: Ornamental design in Turkoman rugs, featuring an octagonal pattern, divided into four sections. Gul is actually the Turkish word for "rose" or "flower."

Ground: Background color that enhances the design pattern of the rug.

Hali: Word meaning "rug" in Turkish.

Halicilik: Word meaning "rug merchant" in Turkish.

Hand: Descriptive "feel" of the rug or carpet. Some qualities could be scratchiness, stiffness, or roughness.

Handmade: A rug that is made by hand rather than by a machine. Hand-hooked, hand-knotted, and hand-weaved rugs are all examples of handmade rugs.

Hand-hooked: A method of hand-making a rug, using a tufting tool called a gun. Yarn is hooked into a pre-made backing or cartoon, and when the rug is completed, a separate backing piece is attached to protect the stitching.

Hand-knotted: A method of hand-making a rug by knotting pile yarns around the warp fibers. Typically, the more knots per inch, the more expensive the rug.

Hand-tufted: A "full-cut" rug using a cut-pile surface or cut-and-loop techniques.

Hand-woven: Rugs made by using a loom to weave the fibers together.

Heat-set: The process of treating twisted yarns with heat to maintain their strength.

Herati border: A specific rug pattern consisting of a rosette surrounded by four leaves, all inside a diamond.

Hereke: A style of rugs made in this namesake Turkish city. Hereke rugs use the Persian Senneh knot.

Heriz: Rugs made with popular geometric medallions were originally made in this Iran-Azerbaijan border city.

Indigo: A popular shrub or herb whose juice oxidizes from yellow to deep blue when exposed to air. Indigo is a popularly synthesized dye.

Jade: A Nepali-woven rug using New Zealand wool with mohair highlights. Jade rugs are usually found in soft, earth-tone designs.

Jaipura: A hand-spun-feeling New Zealand wool.

Jute rugs: Jute is a natural plant fiber, grown in Southern Asia. Jute rugs are those woven from jute fibers and are naturally strong. Once popularly used as doormats, jute rugs have progressed into uses all around the home.

Kabir: New Zealand yarn with silk highlights that has been specially washed for bold color and pattern crispness.

Karabaugh: An area in the southern part of the Caucasus Mountains, popular for uniquely designed rugs. Prayer designs, single and multiple medallions, and bunches of roses are popular in Karabaugh rugs.

Kashan: A major trading center for rugs in the 17th and 18th centuries, Kashan is a city in Northern Iraq. A typical Kashan pattern features multiple elegant floral motifs built off a central medallion.

Kashmir: Rugs woven with Persian knots using coloring and ornate patterns unique to India. Kashmir carpets are made of silk or mercerized cotton.

Kazak: A Turkish style of rug made by craftspeople in Kazakhstan.

Kermin: A Southeastern Iranian city. Known for their stunning floral motifs, these rugs also use complicated patterns of medallions over the entire area of the rug.

Kilim: A flat-woven reversible rug. Similar to a dhurrie but woven tighter, a Kilim rug is typically made of wool.

Knot: Each yarn is knotted through the back of an Oriental rug. The number of knots per square inch is a quality factor in choosing a rug (a higher number represents a higher quality). There are two basic types of knots - see Persian knot and Turkish knot.

Knot count: A count of knots per square inch, representing the quality of a rug. High-quality rugs have a high knot count.

Knotted pile: A weaving style involving wrapping tufts of wool or pile around the warps. The pile is then tied around each individual warp strand to erect the pile to a 90-degree angle to the ground.

Kufic script: Decorative calligraphic script.

Lapis: A color derived from a gemstone that is bluish in color, used for color-dying.

Latex: The glue, derived from synthetic rubber or plastic, which is used to attach backing to a carpet or rug.

Lateef: A Persian-designed rug with high pile and dense qualities. Lateef rugs are hand-knotted and use New Zealand wool.

Le Palais: Rugs influenced by classic French designs, Le Palais are Nepali-woven with semi-worsted New Zealand wool. Typically, these rugs have ornate carvings and a delicate weave.

Line count: In a linear foot, a line count is the count of horizontal knots. A line count represents a high rug quality.

Loom: Vertical, horizontal, fixed, or mobile frame that holds fabric strands for rug-weaving.

Loop-hooked: A hooked rug where the loops created are left uncut.

Loop pile: A hard-wearing rug surface that minimizes tracking and wear from foot traffic. Loop pile is the same as cut pile before it is trimmed.

Luster: The brightness and sheen qualities of the rug fibers.

Machine-made: Rugs made on a power loom, instead of by hand. Machine-made rugs have become very popular in modern times for their colors, sizes, and low cost.

Machine-tufting: A mass-production technology in which yarn is sewn in a manner similar to a sewing machine equipped with hundreds of needles. This technology was created in the United States.

Madras: A dense, high-quality imported wool that is double-washed and moth-proofed. Madras rugs typically feature very intricate Persian designs.

Majestic: Rugs inspired by the 19th century. Majestic rugs use premium wool with silk highlights.

Medallion: A large, enclosed portion, usually in the center of the rug. Typical shapes include circles, ovals, diamonds, and octagons.

Mahal: A combination of European and Persian designs, offering both floral- and medallion-based patterns.

Make: The area in which a rug was made.

Motif: The main elements of a rug pattern. A motif can be repeated or just a single pattern.

Modacrylic: Acrylic yarns that have been modified to make them fireproof.

Multi-level loop pile: A rug with a three-dimensional effect due to varied heights of the yarn loops.

Nap: The surface, pile, or body of a rug, where the knots are cut.

Natural dye: Plant, animal, or mineral dye used for coloring weaving yarns.

Natural rug: Rug made of natural fibers (such as cotton). Texture is the main feature of a natural rug.

Needlepoint rug: A rug made of yarns sewn into fabric in a needlepoint fashion.

Nomad B: Antique reproductions using contemporary colors and semi-worsted and New Zealand wool.

Nylon: A synthetic fiber that is both durable and easy to dye. Nylon fibers can be solution-, skin-, or space-dyed (or a combination of the three).

Oltenian: A high-quality kilim rug typically featuring elaborate flower and/or leaf patterns.

Oriental: The "Far East" part of the Old World, found by explorers who circled Africa.

Oushak: Hand-knotted rugs using hand-spun yarn, in modern times; Oushak rugs are authentic designs that imitate antique Oushak rugs.

Overtuft: A tufting process in which an already-tufted carpet has another yarn system tufted through the back of the fabric to develop a pattern on the surface of the carpet.

Oxidation: Generally occurring in vegetable-dyed rugs, oxidation is the chemical effect of a rug's colors changing with exposure to sunlight and aging. Brown and black are the colors most often affected.

Patina: The fading of the surface colors and appearance of a rug due to age or use.

Pattern: The design on a rug, often geometric or pictorial in design.

Penciling: A process where colors are separated to add clarity and straighten lines of color in the finishing process.

Pendant: A small floral design extending to the top and bottom of the rug from the center medallion.

Persian knot: Knot that is wrapped around one warp strand and looped behind another. (See Asymmetrical knot.)

Pile: The surface of the rug formed by the cut ends of the knots.

Pile height: The height of the pile measured by the top of the pile to a tenth of an inch above the rug backing.

Pile weight: Weight of the pile yarn per square yard of the rug.

Plush: A pile rug cut in a fashion where the tufted ends blend together.

Ply: A measurement of the yarn's thickness; the number of yarns twisted together to form a tuft of pile.

Point: One tuft of pile.

Polyester: A synthetic fiber most often used in staple-spun yarns.

Polypropylene/Olefin: Colorfast, synthetic fibers used mainly in machine-made rugs. Low-cost and used best in dense construction.

Power loom: A loom operated by electronic or mechanical power.

Prayer rug: A rug originally designed to kneel and say prayers on. Now made much bigger, prayer rugs are typically one-sided with an arch at the top of the field, manufactured in parts of the Middle East.

Primary backing: Backing on a tufted carpet or rug in which the tufts are actually inserted into the backing. The backing is then bonded with latex to hold the tufts in place.

Primrose: A wool soumak-weave rug with stripes and floral or geometric patterns.

Printed rug: A solid or multi-colored pile rug in which a design has been stenciled.

Programmed rug: A city-woven rug with the same design available in different sizes.

Quatref: A round motif with four symmetrical lobes.

Red Desert: Bright and cheerful hand-knotted rugs made with wool and in Southwestern designs.

Raj: Knots per seven centimeters.

Resilience: The durability of a rug's cushion or pile under heavy use.

Rhubarb: A plant whose leaves bear a brownish-red dye used in rugs in China, India, and Tibet.

Riviera: Influenced by the French Aubusson and Savonneire designs, a Riviera rug uses semi-worsted New Zealand wool and a Nepali weave. Intricate carving and a delicate weave make these rugs elegant and ornate.

Rosette: Motif that resembles a round flower.

Royale: Made of semi-worsted New Zealand wool, Royale rugs incorporate Southeast Persian designs with bright bold contemporary colors and styles.

Rug pad: A pad placed underneath a rug that both holds it in place and adds to its durability by cushioning it from the floor by absorbing the weight of traffic.

Runner: A long, narrow rug used on stairs and in hallways.

Saffron: A plant whose dye was used in some early rugs in China, India, and the Balkans.

Savonneire: French piled carpets that resembled the Persian Kerman rugs. Made until the 1890s, Savonneire rugs had an impressionist quality, and became the model for many modern Indian and Persian rugs.

Sarouk: Elegant factory-woven carpets manufactured in Iran and Iranian Azerbaijan for export.

Saxony: Dense, cut-pile rugs similar to shag, but with a shorter pile.

Seagrass: A hard, durable, salt-marsh grass that is spun into tough strands and made into rugs. Seagrass rugs are stain- and dirt-resistant, anti-static, and non-toxic, and they create healthy indoor humidity levels. Perfect for allergy-free environments and meant only for indoor use.

Secondary backing: An additional backing, bonded onto the primary backing on a tufted carpet.

Semi-worsted: A combing process that removes shorter fibers and results in a more lustrous-looking yarn.

Setting: Yarns are twisted a "set" with heat to retain the twist's shape for good tuft definition.

Shag rug: A contemporary rug style with long, usually synthetic, pile.

Shah abbas: A popular pattern in many modern Persian rugs, a shah abbas rug features a feather-and-lotus motif.

Shedding: Loose fibers that come undone from a new rug; not harmful to the rug.

Sheen: The luster of a rug that typically comes from being washed in special chemicals.

Silk: An expensive natural fiber that comes from the cocoons of silkworms.

Sisal: A fiber that resembles (and is sometimes referred to as) hemp, used for making natural rope. Sisal rugs are natural rugs.

Spandrels: Often arc-shaped, spandrels are corner designs in the field of a rug.

Spanish needlepoint: Rugs with jute backs woven on computerized looms that are programmed to imitate the handmade needlepoint rugs of Portugal.

Sprouting: Similar to shedding, excess sprouts of yarn on a braided rug may work their way to the surface and need to be clipped off with scissors.

Staple: The average length of fibers in a piece of yarn.

Strapwork: An interlacing pattern resembling straps.

Solution-dyed: A method of dyeing synthetic fiber where pigment is added to the nylon or polypropylene chip before it is extruded as a filament yarn.

Soumak weave: Like a brocade, a soumak weave is a reversible rug that is woven in a weft-wrapping technique, where extra wefts of dyed wool are added to create a pattern.

Space-dyed: Frequently applied to nylon yarns, space-dyeing is when yarn is colored in different sections of different colors before being woven into a rug.

Static: The buildup of an electrical charge made when someone walks over a carpet. Static is caused by humidity.

Style: The way different motifs, patterns, and colors give a rug its character.

Sultanabad: Originating in Northwestern Iran, Sultanabad rugs use repeating floral motifs and intricate vine patterns. These rugs were designed to give Persian rugs a European flair.

Symmetric knot: A Giordes or Turkish knot - one tied over two warps.

Synthetic fibers: Durable, man-made fibers used exclusively in machine-made rugs.

Tabernacle: Woven with a unique blend of silk and wool (the entire pattern is woven of pure silk), tabernacle rugs are unique and high-quality rugs.

Tabriz: A New Zealand wool with silk highlights that has a semi-luster wash to bring out the bold jewel tones.

Tape braid: A braid is constructed of 13 two-ply yarns to make a tape, then three tapes are braided around two parallel guide yarns.

Tapestry: A weft-faced weave with complicated designs - much like a brocade.

Tea wash: A process used to antique the colors of a rug.

Textured-loop pile: A textured rug with loops of differing pile height that has a unique and sculpted look.

Tibetan knot: A knotting technique that originated in Tibet in which a rod is placed in front of a warp, and then the yarn is looped around two warps and around the rod. When the row is finished, the rod is removed and the resulting loops are cut, creating the pile.

Tip shear: Cut pile rugs where some of the loops are left uncut, resulting in a style that minimizes tracking and flattening.

Tone-on-tone: Two or more shades of the same hue, achieved by combining two ends of different shades, two different yarns of the same color or cut pile, and looped pile of the same color.

Tracking: A footprint effect left on a carpet. The effect is temporary and disappears after cleaning or vacuuming the rug.

Traditional: The characteristic designs of the European, Oriental, and Persian styles of weaving. Some modern rugs emulate the classic patterns, colors, and styles of traditional rugs.

Transitional: A broad style that falls between traditional and contemporary rugs. Floral and botanical rugs are often classified as transitional patterns.

Tribal rug: A style of rug woven by North American or Middle Eastern tribes, or in the traditional style of these groups.

Tubular braid: Yarns woven in a circular fashion surrounding a core of miscellaneous fibers.

Tufted rug: Technique of using a tufting gun to push strands of wool through the rug's base fabric; used to create inexpensive versions of hand-knotted rugs. (See Hand-tufted.)

Turret Gul: Octagonal motif with a small octagon in the middle of the gul.

Turkish knot: Symmetrical knot tied around two adjacent warp threads, each of which are encircled by the strand of wool; the ends of the woolen strand reappear between these two warp threads. The weft is then compressed against the row of knots with a heavy metal comb and a new row of knots is started. After the rug has been completely woven, the loops of wool are then clipped, creating the pile of the rug.

Twist: Winding the yarn around itself to produce a neat, well-defined strand. A tighter twist provides more durability.

Variegated: The use of multiple colors.

Vegetable dyes: Natural dyes produced from berries, roots, and bark. Vegetable dyes are not as colorfast as chrome dyes.

Velour: Cut pile with a velvety surface.

Verneh: A rug featuring a motif of interlocking birds.

Village rug: Rugs woven by a group of people working in shifts. Most large tribal carpets are actually village rugs.

Warp: Vertical strands that extend through the entire length of the rug. The warps are the strands unto which the knots are tied and the wefts are woven.

Weft: Strands that run across the width of the rug between warp threads. Weft threads hold the pile knots in place.

Wilton: A type of electronically driven loom used to weave rugs in multi-colored patterns. Modern looms are highly sophisticated, computer-controlled machines.

Wool: A natural fiber made from sheep hair, New Zealand wool is thought to be the most desirable for rug manufacturing.

Wool sisal: A popular alternative to real sisal (coir and seagrass) rugs.

Worsted: An extra step in wool processing that combs out shorter fibers, leaving a lustrous and durable yarn.

Woven rugs: A rug made on a weaving loom where backing threads and pile are woven at the same time. Wilton and Axminster are both popular woven rugs.

Yarn: A cord of twisted fibers.

Yarn braid: Several three-ply yarns braided together, forming a unique braided rug.

Zaronim: A rug that measures about 3 ft. x 5 ft.